From Bloomberg: "Microsoft, the world's largest software company, provides intelligence agencies with information about bugs in its popular software before it publicly releases a fix, according to two people familiar with the process. That information can be used to protect government computers and to access the computers of terrorists or military foes." The lid has officially been blown off.

And even ignoring that little security fact, it also raises the question: "If the company is willing to go that far to appease the government, then what else might they be doing for them?"

The security fact is that government has a lot more to loose than you do if they are caught with an un-patched but exploited vulnerability. I don't see this as "appeas[ing] the government" but common sense.

The security fact is that government has a lot more to loose than you do if they are caught with an un-patched but exploited vulnerability. I don't see this as "appeas[ing] the government" but common sense.

They also have a lot more to gain than I do when attempting to breach security and infiltrate the computers of other worldwide governments, thanks to being the only people (besides Microsoft itself and likely a few other U.S. government organizations) to know about these zero-day exploits. Shit, all I would gain is "FELONY" on my record and a prison sentence.

I truly don't know why the f*** non-U.S. governments continue to use Microsoft software at this point. I wonder if all this news since the data collection broke will eventually cause governments around the world to begin seriously considering non-U.S. alternatives. If so, well done again U.S. Government--you're continuing to run your economy into the ground.

They also have a lot more to gain than I do when attempting to breach security and infiltrate the computers of other worldwide governments, thanks to being the only people (besides Microsoft itself and likely a few other U.S. government organizations) to know about these zero-day exploits. Shit, all I would gain is "FELONY" on my record and a prison sentence.

Other governments and even large corporations are within their rights to demand the same from Microsoft as a condition of licensing their software. As individuals, it might not be easy or possible to demand the same, but there is nothing stopping you from trying.